GETTING THE JOB

ADVERTISING YOUR AVAILABILITY

The early preparation of my resume was critical to the search for my summer internship. Editing my resume was an iterative process of updates in order to keep it current. Through the updates, I learned about the important details of creating a successful resume. My resume started from a GBUS assignment, and I edited my resume further in my Technical and Scientific Communications course. Through these classes, I adapted ideas from samples of other resumes to improve mine. I learned there is no one way of writing a resume, but to remember the reason of why you are writing it and who is reading it.

Early in college, I learned it was important to remove High School information from one’s resume because it is not important to employers. In addition, I found more examples on MadisonTrak, Monster.com, and the CISAT internship WebPages for help. From those resources, I was able to gain more advanced resume features for the future additions to my resume. In my resume, I used the header to advertise my name, and I wrote a detailed objective statement in order to put myself a part from the other applicants. As a Computer Science major, the skills portion of my resume is very important, so I used tables to organize my programming languages, software, and office skills. However, the most critical fact to remember about a resume is to make it easy to read, so the personal information should be concise yet descriptive. In addition, one’s resume should be a melting pot of all the resume tips you learned along the way.

JMU students should use the resources provided to them such as Allan Berg. He volunteers to help students with their resume by providing constructive criticism so the resume is the best representation of the student. MadisonTrak is an essential tool mostly for upperclassmen, but every student should become familiar with it early in their college career. Through MadisonTrak, one posts resumes and searches through the visiting employers. From the contact information on MadisonTrak, I would learn about companies and would search their websites, contact their Human Resources, and mail them my resume. My summer internship resulted from a weekly MadisonTrak email advertising how to apply for America Online internships.

However, I did a lot of work on my own. One year prior to my internship, I spent hours altering my resume, researching, and composing documents to be prepared for my upcoming internship search. I wanted a government internship, and it requires applying as early as 12 months prior to employment. It took hours of research to find internship programs, plus there were many requirements for these internships such as recommendations, specifically formatted resumes, and multiple copies of applications. I worked diligently to have my choice of a job. I applied to over 20 elite government programs and was selected for two. I received offers from the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Service and the Department of State. These jobs provided different experience and security clearance advantages. In the mean time, I sent my resume to the human resources of companies I wanted to work for throughout the year. I rarely received a response from some employers, but finally I heard from AOL 3 months after applying.

FINDING OUT ABOUT JOB OPENINGS

One of the best sources was usajobs.opm.gov sponsored by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) because it has an extensive listing of government internships and search tools for job matching. I signed up with OPM in order to receive emails about jobs I was interested in. The official company’s websites were a good source as well because they contain employment information, when one looks in the “employment” sections of the sites. I also used the WashingtonPost.com to search for local internships. Later in the year after attending the Computer Science intern meeting, Dr. Grove also gave announcements for internships. For insight on government jobs, Allan Berg provided advice from his military career. It is important to use your family and friends because they are able to vouch for your character so it is possible to gain an advantage. Finally, I recommend being constantly aware of jobs because an internship opportunity can come from anywhere.

LANDING YOUR INTERNSHIP

In late spring, I received an email from the JMU Career Center about America Online looking for Computer Science interns. Because I live a few miles from AOL in Northern Virginia, it sounded like a great opportunity. I did not spend much time putting a thorough email together, so I only sent my resume and a short message to the AOL Human Resources office. After initially sending them my resume, I continued to research and follow other internship leads. Two months later, I still had no acknowledgement email of them receiving my email. In the last week of May, I got a call from AOL offering the internship in Billing Operations to start in four days. I was really surprised by the job offer and before I accepted it I needed to get a tour of the campus. The HR representative met with me later that afternoon and took me for a tour around the AOL headquarters campus while describing the many benefits AOL offers. The visit was important because I felt comfortable that it was a quality internship program and that I would get lot of valuable experience, so I accepted the job offer and signed the papers the next day. During the tour, I was told why I was selected from the over 400 other resumes they received; they wanted technical students with communication skills, and I had made a point of highlighting that in my resume. Possessing communication skills is very important because I had to conduct staff training through my job, and in result, I felt comfortable in my position. I had never actually gone through an interview so I felt the time I spent on my resume was well worth it because it really spoke for me, and AOL recognized it. If I had to do it again, I would have spent more time asking the managers questions to ensure I was being placed in the right office because the placement of interns is arbitrary. However, Billing Operations was a great match for me because it challenged me to learn the very complicated billing system, so I could get the best learning experience.

Actually landing the job is the hardest part of a job search especially with how competitive and desirable some of these internships are. My best advice for students is to plan ahead and work as hard as you can so you have the choice of the job you want. Unexpected events are going to occur so if you are well prepared you will be a better candidate for these jobs because employers notice those traits.